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| Exclusive: Jaguar Land Rover studying full production in India - sources Friday, Mar 01, 2013 10:37 PM PST  MUMBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is investigating the potential of manufacturing cars in India, company sources said, as the British luxury carmaker looks to build on its growth in emerging markets with the help of Indian parent Tata Motors. JLR, which has ridden a wave of surging demand in China and other emerging markets to post record profits over the past year, is "actively exploring the possibility" of building cars from scratch in India, said one company source. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former University of Montana quarterback found not guilty of rape Friday, Mar 01, 2013 08:53 PM PST (Reuters) - A jury on Friday cleared former University of Montana quarterback Jordan Johnson of a rape charge in a case that has riveted the campus in Missoula, court officials said. Johnson, a former team captain of the Montana Grizzlies, had been accused in July of raping another student while they watched a movie in her bedroom last February. The U.S. government last year launched investigations of allegations that the University of Montana and Missoula had failed to aggressively pursue sexual assault and harassment reports, several of which involved football players. ... Full Story | Top |
| Premature Fed pullback could "short-circuit" recovery: Bernanke Friday, Mar 01, 2013 08:08 PM PST  (Reuters) - Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, said on Friday that pulling back on aggressive policy measures too soon would pose a real risk of damaging a still-fragile recovery. There has been some disagreement within the Fed of whether the U.S. central bank's bond-buying program, which is designed to push down long-term interest rates, should be phased out. Fed Board Governor Jeremy Stein argued recently there were signs of overheating in certain financial markets and that the central bank should consider using monetary policy to address such risks if they persist. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawyers for accused Colorado gunman challenge insanity defense law Friday, Mar 01, 2013 07:55 PM PST  DENVER (Reuters) - Attorneys for accused movie theater gunman James Holmes are asking a judge to rule on the constitutionality of Colorado's insanity defense law before they decide whether their client should enter an insanity plea, court filings made public on Friday showed. In a series of motions, public defenders representing Holmes said Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester needs to define how much information Holmes would have to disclose to court-appointed psychiatrists should he raise the insanity defense. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama formally orders "deeply destructive" cuts, blames Congress Friday, Mar 01, 2013 07:50 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama formally ordered broad cuts in government spending on Friday night after he and congressional Republicans failed to reach a deal to avert automatic reductions that could dampen economic growth and curb military readiness. As the United States staggered into another fiscal crisis, the White House predicted that the spending cuts triggered by the inability of Obama and lawmakers to forge a broader deficit-reduction agreement would be "deeply destructive" to the nation's economic and national security. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela rejects "absurd" rumors over Chavez's death Friday, Mar 01, 2013 06:58 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Senior aides and relatives of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez countered on Friday a crescendo of rumors that the socialist president may be dead from cancer, saying he was still battling for his life. "There he is, continuing his fight, his battle, and we are sure of victory!" his older brother Adan Chavez, the governor of Barinas state, told cheering supporters. Speculation about Chavez, 58, hit fever pitch this week, fed in part by assertions from Panama's former ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Guillermo Cochez, that the Venezuelan leader had died. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. soldier pleads guilty to misusing classified data in WikiLeaks case Friday, Mar 01, 2013 06:51 PM PST  FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The U.S. Army private accused of providing secret documents to the WikiLeaks website pleaded guilty on Thursday to misusing classified material he felt "should become public," but denied the top charge of aiding the enemy. Private First Class Bradley Manning, 25, entered the pleas prior to his court martial, which is set to begin on June 3, in a case that centers on the biggest leak of government secrets in U.S. history. Military judge Colonel Denise Lind accepted the guilty pleas late in the afternoon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspect surrenders in fatal shooting at South Carolina college Friday, Mar 01, 2013 06:17 PM PST  CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - A 20-year-old man wanted by police in the fatal shooting of a South Carolina college student this week surrendered on Friday and was charged with murder, authorities said. Marquis Spencer McDonald, of Conway, South Carolina, surrendered to state and campus police in connection with the death of Coastal Carolina University student Anthony Darnell Liddell, 19, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. McDonald is accused of killing Liddell near the campus in Conway, near Myrtle Beach, on Tuesday night. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wisconsin salon shooter sought cabbie's advice before killings Friday, Mar 01, 2013 06:12 PM PST MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - A man who shot and killed his estranged wife and two other women at a Milwaukee-area hair salon last fall told a taxi driver about his marital problems and sought his advice minutes before pulling the trigger, according to documents released on Friday. Radcliffe Haughton, 45, killed 42-year-old Zina Haughton and two other women, and wounded four others, at the Azana Salon and Spa on October 21. He then turned the gun on himself and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-CIA contractor pleads guilty in Colorado assault case Friday, Mar 01, 2013 05:48 PM PST DENVER (Reuters) - A former CIA contractor who triggered an international incident in 2011 when he killed two men in Pakistan pleaded guilty on Friday to assaulting a Colorado man in a dispute over a parking spot, prosecutors said. Raymond Allen Davis entered the plea in Douglas County District Court to misdemeanor third-degree assault and received a two-year probationary sentence, said Lisa Pinto, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. Pinto said Davis was also ordered to take anger management classes and write a letter of apology to the victim, Jeff Maes. ... Full Story | Top |
| LA to create small parks to force sex offenders from neighborhoods Friday, Mar 01, 2013 05:29 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The city of Los Angeles, seeking to force registered sex offenders out of neighborhoods where they have clustered in large numbers, is building tiny green spaces to exploit a state law banning offenders from living near parks, officials said on Friday. Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, whose district includes a pair of neighborhoods called Harbor Gateway and Wilmington where the parks will be built, said the large population of sex offenders in his district had created unease among residents. ... Full Story | Top |
| Schwarzenegger flexes muscles again in bodybuilding world Friday, Mar 01, 2013 05:20 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Arnold Schwarzenegger is going back to his bodybuilding roots. The action movie star turned politician will become group executive editor for the magazines Flex, and Muscle & Fitness, writing monthly columns in the publications and their online websites, American Media said on Friday. The "Terminator" star, who began his Hollywood career as a bodybuilder and went on to win five Mr. Universe titles, held the same position at the magazines before he was elected California governor in 2003. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. review gives boost to Keystone oil pipeline Friday, Mar 01, 2013 05:12 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Keystone XL oil pipeline got a boost on Friday when the State Department said the project would not likely change the rate at which Canada's oil sands are developed, discounting warnings from environmentalists that it would lead to a spike in greenhouse gas emissions. The report is far from the last word on Keystone. The environmental assessment must be finalized after the public comment. Federal agencies will then have 90 days to work with the State Department to determine whether the pipeline is in the national interest, with U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| NJ to appeal ruling that keeps ban on sports betting: Christie Friday, Mar 01, 2013 04:51 PM PST  (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and state lawmakers vowed on Friday to continue fighting to legalize sports betting after a federal judge struck down a law that would have allowed it. The New Jersey law, which Christie signed last year, had authorized sports betting at the state's racetracks and at Atlantic City casinos. But U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp issued a permanent injunction against the new law late on Thursday, saying that a 1992 federal law that blocked New Jersey from implementing sports wagering does not violate the state's rights under the U.S. Constitution. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hagel says budget cuts put Pentagon missions at risk Friday, Mar 01, 2013 04:50 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel vowed on Friday to preserve U.S. military effectiveness despite $46 billion in new defense cuts he said would jeopardize the Pentagon's ability to fulfill its missions effectively. Hagel, appearing at his first Pentagon news conference since taking office on Wednesday, said the cuts meant that four U.S. Navy air wings would gradually stop flying, the Air Force would immediately cut flying hours and the Army would reduce training. ... Full Story | Top |
| Adopted Russian boy's death ruled accidental in Texas Friday, Mar 01, 2013 04:36 PM PST AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas authorities ruled the death of a Russian boy adopted by a U.S. couple an accident on Friday, but said a probe would continue into a case that has intensified a dispute over international adoptions. The January 21 death of Max Shatto, 3, had sparked criminal and child welfare investigations in Texas, probes by authorities in Russia, and calls from Russian lawmakers for his 2-year-old brother to be returned to Russia. Max died from a torn artery in his abdomen and had bruises consistent with injuring himself, Ector County officials said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Federal worker unions seek flexibility on furloughs Friday, Mar 01, 2013 04:23 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Labor unions are bargaining with federal government agencies in an attempt to soften the financial blow on federal employees as $85 billion in spending cuts kick in. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers may be forced to take several unpaid days off work, after Congress and President Barack Obama reached Friday's deadline without clinching a budget deal that would have averted the across-the-board federal spending cuts known as "sequestration". ... Full Story | Top |
| California governor denies parole for Manson Family member Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:49 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown denied parole on Friday for a member of the Manson Family who was sentenced to life in prison for two 1969 murders carried out with other members of the cult, saying that he remained a danger to the public. In rejecting parole for Bruce Davis, 70, Brown reversed the decision of a California parole board that found him eligible for release after his 27th parole hearing last October. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. aid to Syria should be "non-lethal," new Pentagon chief says Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:37 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Friday he believed U.S. policy of giving only "non-lethal support" to Syria's opposition was the correct one. Hagel's comments, at his first news briefing since taking over the Pentagon on Wednesday, came a day after the United States said it would for the first time give non-lethal aid to Syrian rebels and more than double its aid to Syria's civilian opposition. The moves disappointed opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who are clamoring for Western weapons, something U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Putin see need to advance Syria transition: White House Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:37 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed agreement in a telephone call on Friday on "the need to advance a political transition" to end the violence in Syria as soon as possible, the White House said. The two leaders also stressed the importance of new Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who met in Berlin earlier this week, "continuing their engagement" on Syria. The White House statement did not elaborate further on the discussion between Obama and Putin on the Syria crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Assad forces take Aleppo village, reopening supply line Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:37 PM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces seized a village southeast of the city of Aleppo on Friday, reopening a supply line to the country's biggest city where they have been battling rebels for eight months, a monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the capture of Tel Shghaib marked the last step to creating a land supply route north into Aleppo from Hama province, crucial for Assad's forces who have lost control of part of the main north-south highway. Rebels say they hold most of the city itself and nearly all the rural hinterland. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lurches into new budget crisis, spending cuts imminent Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:34 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government stumbled headlong on Friday toward spending cuts that could dampen the economy and curb military readiness, after President Barack Obama and congressional leaders failed to find an alternative budget plan. Put in place during a bout of deficit-reduction fever in 2011, the automatic cuts can only be halted by agreement between Congress and the White House. As expected, a deal proved elusive in talks on Friday, meaning that government agencies will now begin to hack a total of $85 billion from their budgets between Saturday and October 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spending cuts to delay, then reduce, Build America bond payments Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:29 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The automatic spending cuts taking effect on Friday will delay payments on Build America Bonds for three to six weeks because the Internal Revenue Service needs to reprogram its computers to adjust for the cuts, a senior administration official told reporters. The so-called "sequester" will cut the subsidy paid on the bonds, used for infrastructure projects, by a total of about $210 million. But to put that cut into effect, the IRS has to take offline the computer systems it uses for the payments to reprogram them, the official said. ... Full Story | Top |
| State Department says Keystone XL to have little impact on environment Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:19 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The State Department on Friday said that the TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline would have little effect on most resources along the project's proposed route if the company takes certain mitigation measures. In a draft supplemental environmental review, the department said the impact of the pipeline could be lessened as long as the company follows recommendations outlined in the review and other government agency requirements. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Gary Hill) Full Story | Top |
| U.S.: Keystone would not affect rate of oil sands development Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:19 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The State Department said on Friday that the Keystone XL pipeline would not have much impact on the amount of petroleum developed in Canada's oil sands region, an assessment in line with what supporters of the project have long said. "Approval or denial of the proposed project is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the rate of development in the oil sands, or on the amount of heavy crude oil refined in the Gulf Coast area," the Department said in a long-awaited report of more than 2,000 pages. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama: No "Jedi mind-meld" with Republicans Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:13 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, who said just days ago that he had no interest in playing a "blame game," spent much of a news conference on Friday pointing fingers at Republicans after last-ditch talks with congressional leaders failed to avert automatic spending cuts from kicking in later in the day. Emerging from a nearly hour-long meeting and taking the podium in the White House briefing room, Obama displayed a combative style that has become his regular approach toward opponents since his decisive re-election victory in November. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House says it will seek "fast-track" trade authority Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:04 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday said it would work for approval of politically contentious legislation that would ease the way for new trade deals, as it tries to wrap up talks on an Asia-Pacific free-trade agreement this year. But the brief reference to the legislation known as "trade promotion authority" in an annual report on the president's trade agenda failed to impress some key Republicans who have been pressing for action on the issue for years. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House, lawmakers resume cybersecurity bill talks Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:02 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said on Friday negotiations with the White House on a new cybersecurity bill have resumed, and the two sides are not "that far apart" after making progress this week. The Michigan Republican told Reuters that both sides are "very close" on agreeing about the roles that the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies would play to better defend against cyber attacks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Profile: Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew Friday, Mar 01, 2013 02:41 PM PST  Position: U.S. treasury secretary Incumbent: Jacob "Jack" Lew Date of Birth: August 29, 1955 Term: Sworn in as 76th treasury secretary on February 28, 2013, after being approved by the Senate. Serves at the wish of the president. Key facts: - Lew served as President Barack Obama's chief of staff before being chosen to replace Timothy Geithner, who left the top Treasury post after serving through Obama's first term. Lew easily won confirmation in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate, receiving the support of 20 Republicans. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Slanderous" new calypso songs banned from Guyana's airwaves Friday, Mar 01, 2013 02:36 PM PST GEORGETOWN (Reuters) - Calypso lyrics decrying corruption and excess have so irked Guyana's government that new songs from the popular Caribbean music genre have been banned from state airwaves. Calypso music has long been a proud and central feature of life in Guyana, a laid-back former British colony of just 750,000 people on the northeast shoulder of South America. But the politically spicy lyrics of some recent songs have been too much for the government. ... Full Story | Top |
| "East Coast rapist" gets life sentences for Halloween attack Friday, Mar 01, 2013 02:33 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The man police dubbed "the East Coast rapist" for a string of attacks on women was sentenced on Friday to three life sentences plus 80 years for a 2009 Halloween assault on trick-or-treating Virginia teenagers. Aaron Thomas, 41, of New Haven, Connecticut, was sentenced by Judge Mary Grace O'Brien in Prince William County Circuit Court in Virginia. He will not be eligible for parole, said prosecutor Amy Ashworth. "Life is life," Ashworth said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hagel says budget cuts put all Pentagon missions at risk Friday, Mar 01, 2013 02:32 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Friday that budget uncertainty, including $46 billion in new defense cuts, jeopardizes the Pentagon's ability to effectively fulfill all its missions. Hagel, appearing at his first Pentagon news conference since he was sworn in on Wednesday, said the cuts mean the U.S. Navy would gradually stand down four air wings, the Air Force would immediately cut flying hours and the Army would reduce training. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cosmopolitan Kerry courts Europe, his old stomping ground Friday, Mar 01, 2013 02:30 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - On his first foreign trip as Secretary of State, John Kerry charmed Europeans with his flair for languages, his wry reminiscences about biking through East Berlin as 12-year-old boy and his obvious affection for France and its cuisine. What was less clear was how much influence Washington's top diplomat will have on U.S. foreign policy and whether President Barack Obama will allow him to change anything of substance. ... Full Story | Top |
| Michigan governor clears way for state takeover of Detroit Friday, Mar 01, 2013 02:25 PM PST  DETROIT (Reuters) - Michigan Governor Rick Snyder cleared the way for a state takeover of Detroit, declaring that the birthplace of the U.S. automotive industry faces a fiscal emergency and that he has identified a top candidate to assume its management. Friday's declaration by the Republican governor virtually assures that the state of Michigan will assume control of Detroit's books, and eventually decide whether the city should file the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Detroit has faced the steepest population decline of any major American city in recent decades. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama: could not avoid weighing in on gay marriage court case Friday, Mar 01, 2013 02:18 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday he felt compelled to weigh in on a California same-sex marriage case before the Supreme Court because of his and society's "profoundly positive" evolution on gay rights. Obama's administration on Thursday filed a brief urging the court to allow same-sex marriages to resume in California, which banned them in a 2008 voter-approved measure known as Proposition 8. Obama did not have to submit an opinion on the case and the court's nine justices are under no obligation to give it weight. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish PM's Zionism comments "objectionable": Kerry Friday, Mar 01, 2013 02:14 PM PST  ANKARA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday criticized a comment by Turkey's prime minister likening Zionism to crimes against humanity in a disagreement that cast a shadow over talks between the NATO allies. Kerry, on his first trip to a Muslim nation since taking office, met Turkish leaders for talks meant to focus on the civil war in neighboring Syria and bilateral interests from energy security and Iran's nuclear program to counter-terrorism. But the comment by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at a U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| German lawmakers back Internet copyright, Google critical Friday, Mar 01, 2013 02:02 PM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - German lawmakers approved a bill on Friday that aims to protect publishers' copyright on the Internet but critics branded it too weak for failing to make search engines such as Google pay for displaying news snippets. The bill, which follows years of debate, comes as the newspaper industry in Germany, as elsewhere, struggles to find new sources of revenue as readers and advertisers move online in droves. ... Full Story | Top |
| As Washington frets, markets take spending cuts in stride Friday, Mar 01, 2013 01:56 PM PST  NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Broad spending cuts designed to hit most U.S. government programs with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer were set to begin taking effect on Friday, yet investors barely batted an eyelash. The $85 billion in across-the-board "sequestration" cuts were expected to eventually cause airport delays, disrupt public services and result in lower pay or layoffs for millions of government workers. What they were not likely to do, at least as far as financial markets were concerned, was cause enough damage to derail a U.S. economy that has lately been gaining momentum. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ethnic clashes flare in Guinea, president asks for calm Friday, Mar 01, 2013 01:55 PM PST  CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinean President Alpha Conde appealed for calm on Friday after rival ethnic gangs fought with knives and truncheons in the capital in a third day of violence over an upcoming election in the volatile West African nation. Security forces in full anti-riot gear took to the streets of the crumbling seaside capital Conakry to try to stem violence in which at least 65 people were injured, according to a statement from the presidency. "All sides must avoid provocation, personal vengeance and taking justice into their own hands," Conde said in a televised address to the nation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Taxes squeeze households, factories to add to growth Friday, Mar 01, 2013 01:50 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending was tepid in January as higher taxes squeezed incomes, but vigor in the manufacturing sector last month suggested economic growth picked up early this quarter. Other data on Friday showed strong auto sales and a rise in consumer sentiment in February, which should help support spending. ... Full Story | Top |
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